Former Congress MP Siricilla Rajaiah, his wife Madhavi and son S Anil Kumar were detained for questioning by the police after the recovery of the charred bodies of his daughter-in-law Sarika and three grandsons from his home in Warangal, Telangana. The police arrested the three for alleged dowry killing, reported Deccan Chronicle, but said other angles such as suicide are also being investigated.

Sarika's mother said that it could not be a suicide and alleged that her in-laws had "tortured her and killed her". Sarika had filed a harassment case against her husband and staged a sit-in outside the minister’s house last year, DNA reported.

Rajaiah has since decided to opt out of the by-election to the Warangal Lok Sabha constituency, scheduled for November 21.